"Huh? I smelled that old bastard's scent, but it's gone!" Ven Gongzi, the poison master, landed above Xian, sniffing the air.
"That old beast risked everything for this realm. He's at his weakest now and he can't escape far!" Zareth Gongzi, the gambler, shook his dice calmly.
"Heh, look who I found!" Lust Prince, pale with lecherous eyes, spotted Xian below.
"Oh?" Zareth glanced, recognizing the stunning girl in the wilderness as the Demon Sect's fugitive saintess.
His eyes gleamed with lust. Influenced by their master, the three brothers, though trained differently, often committed vile acts together playing bandits or heroes, bedding countless women. But a beauty like the Demon Sect saintess was rare, stirring their desires. With the Demon Sect's bounty on her, their hesitations vanished. "Things are urgent. Let's seize this vixen, interrogate her about the old man, and satisfy our cravings…"
The three Evil Heart Sect disciples formed a faint Three Talents Array, ready to strike Xian.
But Xian's eyes lifted, radiating an inhuman purple glow.
"Get… lost…" A slow, eerie voice came from behind them.
A black claw pierced Zareth's chest. He stared, incredulous, as his protective spells and robes tore like paper, the claw sliding through effortlessly.
"Aaah! What… what is this?!" Zareth tried to resist, but endless eerie energy flooded his body, corrupting his proud cultivation. His forged organs melted into black sludge, and Nine Nether energy ignited him like fire.
"No! No! No!" He reached for his brothers, burning into a molten figure, his skin and organs dissolving into a viscous black gel. The black demon roared, tearing into it like a feast.
"What monster is this?!" Ven and Lust Prince, equal in cultivation, watched Zareth fall in a single strike. Their formidable demonic skills were powerless against the creature. Terrified, they fled without looking back.
The demon devoured Zareth's gel, and Xian felt its hunger and subsequent satisfaction.
"Come here!" The demon, mindlessly feeding, landed slowly, obeying Xian's command. It shuffled to her, its black face twisted with beastly features, muttering, "Hungry… hungry…"
"No eating people!" Xian snapped.
"Roar!" The demon protested, and Xian felt a suffocating inability to resist. Gagging, she quickly added, "I'll feed you, but no people!"
"Roar… fine…" The demon quieted.
"You?!" A cold voice, laced with unprecedented fury, rang out. Xian spun to see Qing approaching, cradling a bloodied, gravely injured Elder Mu, with Feng trailing behind.
Xian lowered her eyes, using magic to hide her demonizing gaze, then looked up with a breezy, seductive smile. "Hehe, isn't this Qing? Long time no see!"
Qing, her white robes bloodstained, clutched Elder Mu, his chest torn open. Her face was colder than ever, pointing at the still demon. "This is yours?"
Xian glanced at Elder Mu's claw wound, her heart sinking, but she replied casually, "Yes, it's a chance I found here."
"You admit it." Qing's jade hand gripped the Too Yin Mysterious Heaven Sword's spirit, forming a phantom blade, aimed at the Demon Sect saintess. "You tried to kill me, and you stoop to such vile means!"
"What?" Xian's heart jolted. She hadn't known where the demon went after breaking free, only feeling a soul-searing pain that made it retreat. Had it attacked Qing? She truly didn't know.
"Qing." Feng, sensing trouble, stepped forward. "There must be a misunderstanding, right, Xian?"
Before Xian could respond, a bold, spirited voice cut through. "What a show!"
A horse neighed, and everyone turned to see Lian astride a black steed, her expression brimming with mockery.
The air froze.
Xian crouched on a platform, the black demon motionless beside her, her face a blend of allure and innocence, smiling like a courtesan.
Lian, atop her horse, her lithe frame straight as a spear, her wheat-toned face alight with playful scorn.
Qing, holding the dying Elder Mu, her bloodied robes stark against her peerless beauty, radiated icy chill.
Feng's smile stiffened, a bead of sweat sliding from his forehead to his chin.
"Go on, keep going!" Lian's mockery deepened, her laughter growing, choking Feng's words in his throat.
Qing's gaze returned to Xian, her sword tip rising. "Explain."
Facing an unusually aggressive Qing, Xian paused, then said, "Nothing to say."
"Fine!" Qing raised her spirit sword, the Too Yin Mysterious Heaven Sword's spirit absorbing spiritual energy from a hundred miles around.
"Wait!" Feng, panicked, stepped to Qing's side. "Qing, there's got to be a misunderstanding."
"Feng." Xian called softly, her seductive eyes turning earnest. "Do you trust me?"
"I…" Feng met her gaze, his heart trembling.
Elder Mu, in Qing's arms, coughed up black blood, his breath weakening, causing a flicker of panic on Qing's fierce face.
*This old, ugly eunuch means that much to her?* Feng felt a pang of discomfort at Qing's expression but seized the moment. "Save him first, saving him is priority!"
Qing fell silent, dispersing her sword. Before Feng could relax, she left without a word. He hurried after her. "Qing, let me…"
"Feng." Her calm voice, ever steady, chilled his heart.
"Step aside."
Feng was speechless. "I…"
Without waiting, Qing, cradling the unconscious Elder Mu, brushed past him, vanishing from their sight.
In her final moment, she glanced back, her clear, moonlit eyes meeting Feng's, devoid of any affection.
The pain in Feng's heart surpassed even that night at the palace's rear mountain, deeper and more sorrowful. He sensed he'd erred, but couldn't pinpoint how.
Lian, astride her horse, watched Qing's resolute departure, her lips curling slightly. She'd eliminated one rival.
Xian's gaze on Feng softened. He'd chosen her over Qing.
Only Feng knew his turmoil, unaware he'd lost everything.